The Dominion of Evil The term “Jekyll and Hyde”, now a part of our common language, can be found in most dictionaries. Random dictionary definitions of “Jekyll and Hyde” include: 1) “One who has quasi-schizophrenic, alternating phases of pleasantness an unpleasantness.” 2) “A person having a split personality, one side of which is good and the other evil.” 3) “This phrase refers to a person who alternates between charming demeanor and extremely unpleasant behavior.” This concept revolves around the experience of Dr. Jekyll, enabled by drinking a potion, into living as his own living side, whom he names Hyde. Stevenson intended Jekyll’s character to be pronounced Je (French word for “I”) Kill (Je-Kill = I kill), as an indication that the doctor wanted to isolate the evil portion of himself, appropriately named “Hyde,” meaning low and vulgar hide or flesh which must hide from civilization. When Robert Louis Stevenson wrote the story Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, he portrayed man’s evil nature as a portion of his total makeup, and showed that the evil portion will often express itself more forcefully and powerfully than do the other aspects. Throughout life, a person can develop a sense of the conflict that actually involves one’s good and evil natures. Often a person’s current actions reflect their childhood experiences. Jekyll, described by Stevenson, born wealthy, grew up handsome, honorable, and distinguished. Yet, throughout much of his life, he commits secret acts which he thoroughly regrets. Early in Jekyll’s development, Stevenson had him recognize a “profound duplicity of life...so profound a double dealer” and “that man is not truly one, but truly two.” Intellectually, he evaluates the differences between his private life and his public life and, ultimately, he becomes obsessed with the idea that at least two different entities, maybe even more, occupy a person. Jekyll’s reflections and his scientific knowledge lead him to contemplate the possibility of scientifically isolating these two components. With this in mind, he begins to experiment with various chemical combinations. When Jekyll discovers the correct formula and drinks it, he is approaching a hardy fifty years of age; after his transformation into Edward Hyde, he feels younger, lighter, and more sensual, thereby indicating the appeal of the evil side. At that point, he acknowledges “the thorough and primitive duality of man.” He sees the necessity to try to separate the two selves, to hide that shameful part of himself from the world, and therefore stay in control of his evil nature.
In Robert Louis Stevenson’s, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dual nature of man is a recurring theme. Jekyll constantly struggles with good and evil, the expectations of Victorian society, and the differences between Lanyon and Jekyll.
In this essay on the story of Jekyll and Hyde written by Robert Louis Stevenson I will try to unravel the true meaning of the book and get inside the characters in the story created by Stevenson. A story of a man battling with his double personality.
This essay will focus on how Robert Louis Stevenson presents the nature of evil through his novel ‘The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’. Using ideas such as duality, the technique used to highlight the two different sides of a character or scene, allegories, an extended metaphor which has an underlying moral significance, and hypocrisy; in this book the Victorians being against all things evil but regularly taking part in frown able deeds that would not be approved of in a ‘respectable’ society. This links in with the idea of secrecy among people and also that evil is present in everyone. The novel also has strong ties and is heavily influenced by religion. Stevenson, being brought up following strong Calvinist beliefs, portrays his thoughts and opinion throughout the story in his characters; good and evil.
Robert Louis Stevenson in "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" is telling people that they fear the knowledge of their duality so they keep silent. That everyday people are silent they fight a "war" within their bodies and minds. People are afraid of the truth, about themselves, so they stay quiet. Everybody has a part of himself or herself that they don't reveal to anyone. People are afraid to show it, but when it comes out they would rather not talk about it. People cannot do this, it is essential that one be capable of good and evil to be in existence.
...ve duality of man;… if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both” Thus, Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, two coexistent, and eternally opposed components that make up a “normal” individual. However, here, good and evil are not related but are two independent entities, individuals even, different in mental and physical attributes and constantly at war with each other. Evil now does not require the existence of good to justify itself but it exists simply as itself, and is depicted as being the more powerful, the more enjoyable of the two, and in the end ultimately it is the one that leads to Dr. Jekyll's downfall and death. Stevenson creates the perfect metaphor for the never-ending battle between good and evil by using Jekyll and Hyde. However, this novella is perhaps one of the few that truly show the power of Evil.
What is human nature? In almost every century someone has asked this question to try and find the answer. Each individual had a specific way of debating the matter. One specific author, Robert Louis Stevenson, described the duality of human nature in his book, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
“Man is not truly one, but truly two” (Stevenson 104). Or so is the belief of Dr. Henry Jekyll in Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Jekyll came to this conclusion at a fairly young age after taking note that the desires he wished to indulge in were not widely accepted, and deciding that it would be best if he repressed these dark pleasures and instead lived only as his moral side. This decision created a great divide in the two selves of which Jekyll was made; neither side was any more or less a part of him, but his dark side, which later manifested itself as Mr. Edward Hyde, was hidden inside of him while the good and well accepted side, Dr. Henry Jekyll, was out on display. The man stayed like this until one day his curiosity got the best of him, and he decided to concoct a
From the beginning of time, humans have questioned the validity of the intrinsic duality of man. Are humans born with both pure goodness and pure evilness or is the latter cultivated? Or simply altogether is man an existence embodied with both? In Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, one man, a scientist named Henry Jekyll, concludes that all men are both good and evil. Through his own understanding of human nature, Henry Jekyll transforms and reveals himself to become and show the characteristics of both the protagonist and antagonist of the story.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was written by Robert Louis Stevenson during the Late Victorian era. Although "this horror story owes its allegiance to Gothicism rather than realism, many critics suggest that Robert Louis Stevenson 's tale of a man split between his respectable public identity and an amoral secret self captures key anxieties of the fin de siècle" (Norton 1669). The Late Victorian era was “the state of mind prevailing during the final decades of the nineteenth century” (Norton 1668). In the story of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, there are some reflects of the breakdown of Victorian values that took there undergo of their citizen responsibility as a whole.
Plot: Dr Henry Jekyll, an upstanding surgeon in Victorian England, is frustrated in his desire to marry his beloved, Muriel Carew, by her pompous father who insists that he must wait eight months so as to marry on the same date that he married his wife. However Jekyll perfects a formula that allows him to let the animal side of his nature free. Taking the formula, Jekyll physically transforms into a bestial creature that he calls Hyde. Hyde roams the disreputable areas of London where he makes an innocent showgirl/prostitute his and keeps her in mortal terror. However Jekyll soon finds that he is unable to control Hyde’s appearances.
Jekyll does deserve his final miserable fate because he commits several selfish deeds to the point where he brings his miserable fate upon himself. In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Robert Louis Stevenson uses Jekyll to represent how man prioritizes by putting himself over others. Throughout the book, Jekyll’s two different sides are used to show that man is consistently selfish and will usually think of himself before others. Even though Jekyll has a good side and an evil side, both sides of him are selfish. Jekyll originally takes the potion for selfish reasons, Jekyll uses Hyde to conquer his own evil temptations, and in the end Jekyll gives into Hyde and completely gives up.
In The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the author Robert Louis Stevenson uses Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde to show the human duality. Everyone has a split personality, good and evil. Stevenson presents Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as two separate characters, instead of just one. Dr. Jekyll symbolizes the human composite of a person while Mr. Hyde symbolizes the absolute evil. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, who are indeed the same person, present good and evil throughout the novel.
One of the major ideas presented in Jekyll and Hyde is the need for both good and evil to live in coexistence within an individual’s conscience. Jekyll’s experiments prove that a balance between the two sides of nature is crucial to be content in the world. He realizes that the only reason he is able to be one of the two sides of his nature is because he has the capacity to be either as long as both are present within him. He makes this clear in the quote, “I saw that, of the two natures that contended in the field of my consciousness, even if I could rightly be said to be either, it was only because I was radically both” (125). Jekyll aims to segregate his good side from his bad side. He begins on his endeavor to create a potion that creates an entirely new identity for the evil element of his nature named Mr. Hyde. Jekyll is pleased with himself and feels that he has been successful in his undertaking. He maintains this happiness until Hyde begins to commit unspeakable crimes without Jekyll’s rationality and sense of morality to temper him. Jekyll becomes miserable trying to contend with his evil counterpart and it is then that Stevenson’s message is evident. It is difficult to maintain true happiness without both sides of nature present within one’s conscience to balance each other out and to coexist.
Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde I have been reading the book Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The book was written by Robert Louis Stevens on during in the 19th century. This book was written during a time where Victorian society had a lot of strong moral values. These codes were very strict and controlled every aspect of the Victorian lifestyle. People in these times believed to settle things verbally rather than aggression so fighting was looked down upon.
Jekyll himself. Dr. Jekyll is a symbol of both the good and the bad in mankind, while Mr. Hyde represents pure evil. For instance, when Dr. Jekyll is himself, he is seen as a respectable man who is adored by his colleagues: “he became once more their familiar quest and entertainer; and whilst he had always been known for his charities, he was now no less distinguished for religion” (Stevenson 29). However, when Dr. Jekyll transforms to Mr. Hyde his morals are quickly disregarded. An example of this occurs when Mr. Hyde murders Sir Danvers, shortly after Dr. Jekyll submits to the temptation of changing to Mr. Hyde: “instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me…with a transport of glee, I mauled the unresisting body, tasting delight from every blow” (Stevenson 56). Even though the carnal side of Dr. Jekyll enjoys the incident, this event also illustrates the conscience side of Dr. Jekyll because in the mist of this brutal murder, he begins to feel guilty for committing the crime. This guilt drives him to have “clasped hands to God…tears and prayers to smother down the crowd of hideous images and sounds that his memory swarmed against him” (Stevenson 57). As a whole, the text demonstrates that Dr. Jekyll’s alter ego, Mr. Hyde, is the mastermind of pure malevolence who participates in activities that Dr. Jekyll cannot